Vinexpo seems a way away now a couple of months down the road but a reminder recently arrived on my doorstep.
One of the pleasures of Vinexpo is to be able to taste wines from all over the world and California was well represented for a region whose wines are under represented in the French market place. The Napa Valley Vintners had not just a great stand but also ran a fascinating seminar presenting the results of their research into the reality of climate change in Napa and its effects on winemaking practises. Not that anyone dared say they were climate change deniers but there was definitely an undercurrent that wine style was affected a lot more by agricultural and wine making practise than by any inherent change in the climate. Not dissimilar from what we hear from a lot of producers here in Europe. we have more in common than it would seem.
Yes there is some rising in temperature but nowhere nearly sufficient to explain the rise in sugar levels over the same period, so global warming cannot be blamed for the rise in alcohol levels to such dizzying heights as we are seeing in many regions and not uniquely California.
These high levels of sugar and hence alcohol are explained much more by agricultural decisions, from trellising to planting densities and the all-important picking date. This trend is a response to market demand, despite what some of us more traditional consumers from the old world might think, there is a huge demand for wines with lots of fruit and high alcohol levels in many markets, not least the USA and of course the power points awarded by some critics that can make or break the market for these wines. What producer wouldn’t respond to such market pressure?
Please will the consumers out there that prefer ‘drinkability’ stand up and make themselves heard so producers will respond to their legitimate demands too?

The reason this was brought back to mind was a wonderful surprise from friends at Ponzo vineyard.

Not from Napa but nearby Sonoma, Phil and Barbara Ponzo grow grapes in the beautiful Russian River. They supply several local wine makers for their single vineyard wines; Nickel and Nickle, and Hawley amongst others.
I met them thanks to the dynamic Susan Graf, stylist to all the lady winemakers of Sonoma County. As well as a full time job as a style icon Susan helps run the Healdsburg Food Pantry charity and mutual friends, Jim and Sally Newsome, bid on a wine tour with me and brought along their fellow wine growers the Ponzos to discover how we grow our grapes in Bordeaux in a viticultural ‘compare and contrast’ week.

The Newsomes and the Ponzos at a tasting lunch in the new dining roomat Château Troplong Mondot
After a week of sipping Bordeaux with them the tables have turned, a case of their wines has arrived for me and it’s my turn to taste some of their Sonoma wines – tasting notes to follow when I surface!

A line up of Ponzo single vineyard wines ready for tasting

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